Founded in 2004 by Michigan Tech Alumni, Schmohz Brewing Co, located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a producer of fine craft beers. Currently, the brewery produces 36 different craft beers, including Michigans’ only non‐alcoholic craft beer. In addition to beer, the brewery also produces a line of non‐alcoholic sodas. The brewery currently distributes their products in both bottles and kegs. Per Michigan law, when a keg is emptied it is then returned by the consumer to the distributor, whom in turn returns the empty keg to the brewery. Upon reception of the keg by the brewery the keg is cleaned and recycled for reuse. The market currently lacks a cost-efficient, semi-automated keg cleaning device to provide an efficient way for craft breweries, like Schmohz, to clean their returned kegs.
The Commercial Keg Cleaner Team is comprised of Mechanical and Chemical Engineers to research, design, prototype, test, and market a commercially viable keg cleaning device. The keg cleaner will be utilized by craft breweries to reduce initial capital investment and allow more efficient use of employee time by providing a cost efficient, user-friendly, and semi-automated design. Creating a semi-automated design allows brewers to limit potential employee interaction with hot caustic solutions, and allows employees to engage in more activities while the device is running, instead of manually washing the kegs. Current market options for similar designs range in price upwards of $10,000; our team’s goal is to create a device that will cost around $2,000.